Books for the beach bag: Heartbreakers, thrillers, and page-turning escapes
We read differently in the summer – more fiction, maybe less intellectual fare. Here are some books to get you started by the pool, the beach, or in the air.
“A Far Flung Life” by M.L.Steadman. Multigenerational story of the McBride family in Western Australia. Heartbreaking at times, but so engaging it is hard to put down. See it through to the end for your reward. Highly recommend!
“Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips. 1874 post Civil War, ConaLee and her mother Eliza are taken to an asylum in West Virginia. You will learn their story, and much about the effects of the war on families in this exquisite novel.
“A Violent Masterpiece” by Jordan Harper. I enjoyed a previous work by Harper, “Everybody Knows,” so I was aware that his writing style is very aggressive. He is a Hollywood writer and insider so he writes what he knows about. Both of these books describe the underbelly of LA – the stars, the billionaires, the drugs. His stories are reminiscent of the cartels in Don Winslow books.
“From the Dust” by David Swinson. A Washington, D.C. policeman moves back to quiet upstate New York to retire, but is drawn into a multiple-murder investigation. Well written and well paced. I did finger the perpetrator early on. Let me know if you guess the killer.
“Five” by Ilona Bannister. Five passengers wait at the rail station in London. One will die before the train arrives in seven minutes. It reminds us that we never know what others are going through.
“Go Gentle” by Maria Semple. Not as good as “Where’d You Go Bernadette,” but a fairly entertaining read.
“The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout. Strout has a gift for finding the deepest part of every character. Artie Dam is no Olive Kitteridge, but he and the rest of the cast are all relatable and make for a truly satisfying book.
The following are older books, but perfect summer thrillers.
“The Island” by Adrian McKinty. Heart pounding thriller about a family vacationing alone on an island. Yikes!
“The Quiet Tenant” by Clemence Michallon. A serial killer lives with his teenage daughter and his captive. Definitely gets your pulse racing.
“Moscow X” by David McCloskey. Russian traitors and the CIA in Putin’s Moscow. It does not get any better; it will keep you reading and your heart racing.
“Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. In case you missed this, read it now. A family on a remote island near Antarctica and a woman who washes up on shore. Twists and turns and deep family love. It’s not over until the last sentence.
For more book recommendations, visit beckysbookclub.com.